Matthew Arnold and the Celts [pp. 884-890]

4MA TTHEW ARNOLD AND THE CELTS.
MATTHEW ARNOLD AND THE CELTS.*
BY M. E. HENRY-RUFFIN.
~ i iLIEN by birth and speech, this scholarly Saxon
has yet the insight and the instinct of the liter ary scientist so keenly developed that he delves
B ~; down into the rich mines of Celtism deeper than
many whose sympathy must be nearer. In this
age of remorseless practicality, when utilitarianism ruthlessly
crushes out the mellowing influences of more merciful days, the
student turns his hunting eyes towards a gracious, inviting
past. Nowhere does there seem greater attraction to the
apostle of sweetness and light than in the old regions of
Celtism. With the unerring judgment of the poet, scientist,
and scholar, he appraises at their true value. the literary remains of a people once the intellectual giants of Europe; and
makes a strong plea for the preservation, if only in the interest
of science, of the language and literature of the Celts.
In his inimitable, crystalline diction Mr. Arnold enumerates
the many attractions of this study; the rich prizes awaiting the
researches of the seeker in ancient Celtic lore. His Celts are
those of the broader meaning-Irish, Welsh, Breton; and from
the voices of all their past he gathers grand harmonies to
sound through a shallow age. Back in'to that deep, dim history
he goes, bringing us enchanting pictures of a picturesque,
poetic people; and proving to us, with his gentle logic, that
much that we prize in our later literature had its genesis in
that ancient race. While his researches among the literary
relics of Celtism must be particularly fascinating and precious
to those who are heirs to, and hold in name and descent the
Celtic genius, yet must they prove almost as enticing to those
divorced by race or language from any Celtic sympathy. For
it is not as a national, patriotic, or local study that Mr. Arnold
gives us his erudite exposition of Celtic literature, but as the
exodus of a vital truth, or a procession of truths coming down to
us from a too unfrequented past.
Users of the English tongue, and wedded to the belief of its
supremacy and its solitary grandeur, we make little account of
*On the Study of Celtic Literature. Matthew Arnold.
[Mar.,